I miss you Sam!!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Woo Hoo!! It's that time again! Let's go play with Bozo, but we can beat you there!! Get your human to click on The Man's pic, sign up and get your tail, your paws, feathers, your fins or whatever over to Bozo's hang out! We have some catching up to do!

Weather wise here in Seattle it's been a little of everything from stormy to sunny and back again and that does nothing for Madame Mojo's disposition. Plus her Dad was gone a lot and when he was home he wasn't in a very good mood so she worried a lot.She laid around looking and feeling sad!

She went from upstairs, to downstairs and back again!

I tried to talk to her, make her feel better, but she was just dreaming of the days with her Dad at the beach!

I finally just got up in my rocking chair and took a nap!

But today her Dad is his old self and so is she and they're off having lots of fun and Mom and I can take a deep breath and relax!

Time to play with the shadows again -- well, if you've had some sunshine, or lamplight or whatever works to create those fascinating shadow shots! This oh so fun meme is hosted each week by Tracy over at Hey Harriet! So click on the icon, sign up and show us what you've found this week!

It's been another week of sketchy sun, lots of rain, way, way too much cold wind -- well, you get the picture! But here's what I managed to come up with for today.

This is the shadow of the hanging basket that Adam bought for our front porch!

I saw this rosebud across the alley behind our house and it just seemed to be stretching so hard to reach for a little sunlight!

The flowers everywhere got to me this week!

And, of course, a favorite glass and one of my leftover "lace and vase" shots!

Friday, May 21, 2010

This is from the blog of a dear friend and I wanted to post it with the hope that one of you might be able to help! I can only imagine how desperate I would be if one of my children would have been in such a life threatening situation.

A 4-year-old needs a bone marrow transplant; the situation is direI'm copying here a note circulated by Bloomberg on behalf of their colleague. If you have never registered with the Bone Marrow Registry, please consider doing it. It's a very simple process. This story puts a face to all those people that are waiting for a match. Due to his family ancestry (1/4 South Indian, 3/4 European) Devan's potential match could come from someone who is of mixed Asian and European descent.

Our colleague Indira's only child, Devan, needs your help. He’s four and has relapsed with a rare form of high-risk leukemia. His doctors believe his life depends on a bone marrow transplant that they hope to do after 12 weeks of chemotherapy.

What is difficult is finding a donor match – 1 in 200,000 in his case, we've been told - and we haven't found one yet. You or someone you know might be the person who can save Devan’s life. All you need to do is a simple cheek swab to find out. The organizations below will send you a kit. Donating is easy – these days it’s much like a simple blood draw.

1.PLEASE, REGISTER NOW. The test is easy & free, but processing takes time (10 weeks in the UK), and Devan doesn’t have much. Register below.

2.PLEASE FORWARD THIS ON TO OTHERS. Anyone can be a match, but those who are mixed Indian/Caucasian have an even better chance of helping Devan. Please, please, cut and paste this message to strip out email addresses and forward this to everyone you can. By forwarding this email to at least 10 people now, we can spread the word to 50,000 possible donors within 48 hours.

3. VISIT DEVAN’S SITE - www.matchdevan.com - we will be including details on how to organize your own drive, valuable information on leukemia and FAQ’s on registering and donation.

WHERE TO REGISTER

=> In the US go to Be The Match Bone Marrow Registry, http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html (you need to be 60 or under) => In the UK go to the Anthony Nolan Trust, http://bit.ly/cpkxuy (you’ll need to be 40 or under) => In other countries go to Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide, http://bmdw.org/ index.php?id=addresses_members&no_cache=1 Finally, if you’re pregnant, your cord blood is particularly valuable for helping children like Devan - please look here to learn more: http://parentsguidecordblood.org/content/usa/banklists/publicbanks_new.shtml?navid=15

Weekend Reflections is hosted by James each week beginning Friday at 11 AM. It's another wonderful way of opening your eyes to new and different kinds of beauty. Click on the icon and join us!

I'm still without a car except on the weekends and the weather has not encouraged me to get out anyway! Strange, spring came so early and everything blossomed out and we had such beautiful weather, but then fickle thing that weather is, it suddenly decided to go back to winter for a while. But I managed to catch a couple of things.

I love the sail boat and it's reflection in the water! But, of course, I just love boats and water period!

And, of course, the sun's reflections on the water as well!

I caught this reflection of our deck through the kitchen window -- it's decked out for summer, too, but haven't had much opportunity to enjoy it yet!

And then I caught this strange, old broad's reflection as she was shooting some colored glass shots! She's sneaky like that!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Look up, observe your skies, capture them and share them with us! Sky Watch is hosted each week by Klaus and the Sky Watch Team of Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and me! Click on the icon, sign up and share the beauty!

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. ~John Muir

If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God. ~ G.K.Chesterson

It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream. ~ Bern Williams

Is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun at sunset? ~ Matthew Arnold

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

1. A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills.... She has 14 kids but doesn't really care.

2. One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.

3. My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.

4. The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.

5. The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.

6. The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.

7. Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today...

8. Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.

9. I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my underwear...

10. Amazing! You hang something in your closet for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!

11. Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like...'You know sometimes I forget to eat!' ......Now I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name and my keys, but I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!

12. The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.

13. I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

The guy that wrote this is even further behind the times than I am, but I can relate and I thought some of you might be able to as well! Whatever, it's good for a grin, a chuckle and a good laugh!

The Over 65 Generation

I thought about the 30 year business I ran with 1800 employees, all without a Blackberry that played music, took videos, pictures and communicated with Facebook and Twitter.

I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses, 13 grandkids and 2 great- grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space. That was before one of my grandkids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree, Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twittererific Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that sends every message to my cell phone and every other program within the texting world.

My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.

The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife as everyone in the nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. Seems I have to take my hearing aid out to use it and I got a little loud. I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, "Re-calc-ul-ating"

You would think that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then when I would make a right turn instead, it was not good.

When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at least she loves me. To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I stillhaven't figured out how I can lose three phones all at once and have run around digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and the dirty laundry baskets when the phone rings.

The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never remember to take them in with me. Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me,"Paper or Plastic?" I just say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual." Then it's their turn to stare at me with a blank look.

I was recently asked if I tweet. I answered, No, but I do toot a lot.

PS I know some of you are not over 60.I posted it in order to share it with those who are.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.Marie Curie

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.Winston Churchill

How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.George Washington Carver

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.Danny Kaye

Where there is love there is life.Indira Gandhi

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.Martin Luther King, Jr.

Remember! today is ABC Wednesday hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt and the ABC Team of Denise, Roger, Jay, Troy, Barb, Gattina and me! So click on the icon, sign up and show us what you know!

This morning as I was Reading my cook book , looking for Recipes and listening to the Radio, I suddenly Realized that today was the R day on ABC Wednesday!! Time to Reorganize my day! No time for Ranting or Raving! Time to find pictures of Radiant Red Roses and Red dahlias, Rhododendrons and Red tomatos, and Red Peppers! And here they are!!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Is it Monday again already??? Yes, it is and time to show the things you love, hate, enjoy, delight in about your world! My World is hosted each week by Klaus and the My World Team -- Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and me! Click on the icon, sign up and show us what you've got!

My world is beautiful as always, flowers are still plentiful, beautiful skies, and a beautiful harbor and mountains!!

Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easier to get a spark out of a stone than a moral.John Burroughs

There is nothing pleasanter than spading when the ground is soft and damp.John Steinbeck

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.Frank Lloyd Wright

When I go into the garden with a spade, and dig a bed, I feel such an exhilaration and health that I discover that I have been defrauding myself all this time in letting others do for me what I should have done with my own hands.Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.Marie Curie

Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.Hans Christian Andersen

Sunday, May 16, 2010

>Susan at Stony River Farm hosts Microfiction Monday. She posts a picture and you compose a story in 140 characters. You can click on the icon to get further instructions. To help you along she has posted a wonderful link that counts your characters for you! How great is that! You can get the counter at Design 215.

This meme is easy and it's fun! Thanks, Susan for hosting.

And here's the picture for the day!

Hey whatcha you doing? I saw a sign, Russians are coming! I'm stocking up!It's an old movie at the Ritz! When did you dye your hair,Blondie?

What Can I Say?

I'm interested in almost everything. Use to like to travel, but it's too expensive now. I take Tai Chi classes, swim, volunteer in a Jump-start program for pre-schoolers. I'm an avid reader and like nearly everyone these days I follow politics avidly. I'm a former teacher and Special Projects Coordinator for a Telecommunications company, Assistant to the President of a Japanese silicon wafer manufacturing company. Am now enjoying retirement -- most of the time. I have two daughters, one son-in-law and two sons scattered all over the country. No grandchildren.

Stop Hate Starting Here

I Never Saw Another Butterfly

So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellowPerhaps if the sun’s tears would singagainst a white stone....

Such, such a yellowIs carried lightly ’way up high.It went away I’m sure because it wished to kiss the world good-bye.

For seven weeks I’ve lived in herePenned up inside this ghetto.But I have found what I love here.The dandelions call to meAnd the white chestnut branches in the court.

Only I never saw another butterfly. That butterfly was the last one.Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.

Written by Pavel Friedman, June 4, 1942 Born in Prague on Jan. 7, 1921.Deported to the Terezin Concentration Camp on April 26, 1942. Died in Aushchwitzon Sept. 29, 1944.

Thank You, Anthony!!

Check out his blog and photos!

Chasing Ashes

I love to write and it has been a hobby for a long time. Mysteries were always my escape reading during some of the darker times of my life and I finally decided to give it a try. I've actually written seven over the years. Unfortunately, my last computer disaster resulted in my losing three of the latest four. I did manage to salvage this one.